Online banking, phone payments, email correspondents and web-based shopping create numerous situations where you have to give out information about yourself, your bank accounts and your financial matters. Keeping this info out of unwanted hands is something you should take very seriously.
Be safe over the internet
If you do your banking online you'll already hopefully know that most banks go to a lot of trouble to make sure your transactions are completely safe. Many banks give you card readers that you use at home to create unique passwords every time you need to log into your online account. That doesn't mean you are completely safe though. Smart cyber criminals are able to clone the websites of banks to try and fool you into giving them your log-in and password details. Always check the top of the page to make sure the web address is as it should be.
To avoid spam emails and potential scam offers be very careful who you give your email address out to. If necessary, create a second account that you only use when signing up to special offers or mailing lists. This way you can keep the account free of any important stuff like bank details or personal information. Save your main email address for people you trust. If you run a business and want people to know your email address, place it on your website with gaps between the @ sign and the rest of the address. This will stop automated scan-bots from picking up your email address and adding it to spam lists, while potential clients can still easily make note of your contact address.
Be careful on the phone
The best thing you can do to protect yourself from scam callers if to use a program that filters your calls. A caller display is OK for people who have been very careful with giving out their number, but if you get regularly hassled by cold-callers or scam calls then get some help blocking them all out. Check out somewhere like where they offer a gadget that has a constantly updated list of numbers to block, keeping most sales calls and scams away permanently. Much like the situation with your email, just be very cautious about giving your number out to anyone. If a company insists on taking a phone number from you, ask exactly what their policy is on sharing customer info before you hand any over.
Common sense prevails
If you are smart about who you give info out to, take care that you are on the correct websites when giving out details, and you use a method like the one above to block unwanted phone calls, most of the work will be done for you. You should also be aware that things like nuisance calls are against the law and you are fully in your right to demand that cold-callers take you off of their call lists. Just be polite but firm and tell them you do not want to receive any more calls, and to please remove your number. According to the BBC there are hundreds of thousands of complaints made every year, so you are not alone.
Be safe over the internet
If you do your banking online you'll already hopefully know that most banks go to a lot of trouble to make sure your transactions are completely safe. Many banks give you card readers that you use at home to create unique passwords every time you need to log into your online account. That doesn't mean you are completely safe though. Smart cyber criminals are able to clone the websites of banks to try and fool you into giving them your log-in and password details. Always check the top of the page to make sure the web address is as it should be.
To avoid spam emails and potential scam offers be very careful who you give your email address out to. If necessary, create a second account that you only use when signing up to special offers or mailing lists. This way you can keep the account free of any important stuff like bank details or personal information. Save your main email address for people you trust. If you run a business and want people to know your email address, place it on your website with gaps between the @ sign and the rest of the address. This will stop automated scan-bots from picking up your email address and adding it to spam lists, while potential clients can still easily make note of your contact address.
Be careful on the phone
The best thing you can do to protect yourself from scam callers if to use a program that filters your calls. A caller display is OK for people who have been very careful with giving out their number, but if you get regularly hassled by cold-callers or scam calls then get some help blocking them all out. Check out somewhere like where they offer a gadget that has a constantly updated list of numbers to block, keeping most sales calls and scams away permanently. Much like the situation with your email, just be very cautious about giving your number out to anyone. If a company insists on taking a phone number from you, ask exactly what their policy is on sharing customer info before you hand any over.
Common sense prevails
If you are smart about who you give info out to, take care that you are on the correct websites when giving out details, and you use a method like the one above to block unwanted phone calls, most of the work will be done for you. You should also be aware that things like nuisance calls are against the law and you are fully in your right to demand that cold-callers take you off of their call lists. Just be polite but firm and tell them you do not want to receive any more calls, and to please remove your number. According to the BBC there are hundreds of thousands of complaints made every year, so you are not alone.